‘Dogs break four records, in fourth place after first day of MW Championship

Wednesday, February 20

Minneapolis, MN

Fresno State

Mountain West Championship

‘Dogs break four records, in fourth place after first day of MW Championship

2/20/2019 7:26:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

Complete Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Irina Nikolaeva broke the Fresno State championship record on 1-meter and the Bulldog relay teams in the 200 Medley Relay and the 800 Free Relay also broke program records on the first day of the 2019 MW Swimming & Diving Championship in Minnesota.

Zofia Niemczak also broke the program record in the 200 Free with her leadoff split in the 800 Free Relay. The 'Dogs are in fourth place in the 10 team field after the first of four days of competition after their best start to the meet since joining the conference in 2013.

Diving Highlights

All three Bulldog divers earned points on 1-meter in the only individual event on the first day of the conference meet.
Nikolaeva scored 283.75 to place fourth among 36 divers in the prelims to qualify for the finals. In the final, the Bulldog junior broke the championship program record scoring 295.25, a personal best that topped the previous championship high score of 292.32 set by Hannah Prigge in 2014, and finished sixth overall.
Senior Kelli Funk made the 1-meter consolation final scoring 250.90 for 12^th place in the prelims. Funk improved on her score in the consolation final, finishing at 252.60 in 7^th place.
Freshman Yuliya Tykha took 19^th place in the prelims in her first MW Championship competition.

Swimming Highlights

Fresno State opened the swimming events with a heat win and program record time in the 200 Medley Relay. Ugne Mazutaityte, Manuela Mendolicchio, Kimberly Harbert, and Osianna Mcreed won the first heat of the event in 1:39.91, breaking the previous program record of 1:41.41 set at last year's MW Championship. The time placed fifth overall as San Diego State broke the MW record in the win.
Mazutaityte, Mendolicchio, Harbert, and McReed win the first heat of the 200 Medley Relay with a program-record time of 1:39.91! #GoDogs

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/FzWdtmndJu
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 21, 2019
The quartet of Niemczak, Mazutaityte, Brenda Diaz Martinez, and Emily Cutler won the first heat of the 800 Free Relay in 7:17.75, nearly four seconds better than the previous record of 7:21.65 set last year. Niemczak's 200 Free time of 1:48.55 to begin the race broke the school record of 1:49.09 set by Lucy Titchin in 2012. The 'Dogs placed sixth overall in the event.
Another heat win and program record time as Niemczak, Mazutaityte, Diaz Martinez, and Cutler finish in 7:17.75 in the 800 Free Relay, breaking the program record by almost FOUR seconds! #GoDogs #MWSD

Watch live on @floswimming - https://t.co/nExMOIcOsr pic.twitter.com/4cN81cXHNT
— Fresno State S&D (@FresnoStateSwim) February 21, 2019

Notes

Niemczak now holds four individual program records in the 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Fly, and 200 Fly.
Last year the 'Dogs were in eighth place after the first day of the MW Championship.

Quotes
Head Coach Jeanne Fleck
"It was an awesome night and the best start I've ever had to a meet. It's exciting and this has just been amazing."

What's Next

The second day of competition has four individual events (3-meter diving, 500 Free, 200 IM, and 50 Free) as well as the 400 Medley Relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. Pacific time and finals get underway at 4:30 p.m. Pacific.

MW Championship Standings (Through Three Events)
1. Nevada - 204
2. San Diego State - 178.5
3. Boise State - 152
4. Fresno State - 141
5. New Mexico - 139.5
6. UNLV - 118
7. Wyoming - 113.5
8. Colorado State - 107.5
T9. Air Force - 92
T9. San Jose State - 92

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